NY asks hikers to avoid high trails in Adirondacks

New York officials are asking hikers to temporarily avoid trails over 2,500 feet in the Adirondack High Peaks.

The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation issued its request today, hoping hikers will avoid muddy, high elevation trails to prevent damaging these sensitive trails until they’ve dried and hardened.

Spring conditions are present throughout the state and the lower elevations of the Adirondacks. However, backcountry trails in the highest elevations are still covered in slowly melting ice and snow. Steep trails with thin soils can become a mix of ice and mud as the ice melts and frost leaves the ground, making the trails slippery and vulnerable to erosion by hikers.

DEC officials are asking hikers to particularly avoid high elevation trails in the Dix, Giant, and High Peaks Wilderness areas in the northern Adirondacks. They are asking hikers to avoid the following trails until trail conditions improve:

Hikers are advised to only use trails at lower elevations as these trails usually dry soon after snowmelt and traverse deeper, less erosive soils. DEC suggests the following alternative trails for hiking, subject to weather conditions: